Two years ago, I stood in a school hall in Sunderland on GCSE results day and watched the pride and surprise in the faces of teenagers as the envelopes were opened.
Even after years of covering results days, I was emotional to see a set of outstanding results in a school facing so many challenges. Almost half of the school's pupils receive free school meals, meaning their parents are on low incomes. In fact, the results in the ex-mining town of Hetton-le-Hole were as strong as the most affluent parts of southern England.
This summer, Hetton Academy hit another milestone, with 80% of its pupils getting a pass of at least a grade 4 in maths and English. A grade 4 is roughly equivalent to a 'C' under the old system, and is seen as a passport to jobs and further education.
Another striking detail about Hetton is that almost all of its pupils are from a white, working-class background, a group that's been in the spotlight for some time. This week saw the launch of the second phase of an independent inquiry, led by former Cabinet minister Baroness Morris, into why children from those communities lag behind their peers at school.
